What is Media Literacy and why is it important for you as FCM students to have it? Critical Reflections :
from my point of view, media literacy is the expected outcome from work in either media education or media study. the more you learn about or through the media, the more media literacy you have; it is a quality which can be achieved. media literacy is about the skill of experiencing, interpreting/analyzing and making media products. it involves examining the techniques, technologies and institutions involved in media production; being able to critically analyze media messages; and recognizing the role audiences play in making meaning from those messages.
media literacy is important to me as a Creative Multimedia students because, my entire academic session revolves around media. it is the main subject that i learn about and i am studying about its application, uses, effects and etc. therefore, it is very crucial for me to have at least some knowledge about media in order for me to survive in my studies. plus, it is quite embarrassing if i, as a multiMEDIA student, do not know anything about media when everyone else is depending on me to actually know more about this subject than them.
Personal Reflection : in this week's class, we discussed about media representation and cultural stereotypes. to me, personally, i was more interested in the topic 'cultural stereotypes'. i say so because, this topic was less technical and it was much easier for me to understand compared to the other topic. stereotypes were, most of the time, portrayed negatively and it can lead to sensitive issues to some. but from what i have learned in this class, the best way to change the stereotype is to ignore it and actually learn about their culture yourself so that you will know them better.
Give a very short basic explanation of what media stereotype is? From your personal experience, what other media stereotype (besides the example from the article) you have seen either on TV or in the movies?
Critical Reflections :
media stereotypes are unavoidable these days, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, that need the audience to quickly understand the information. stereotypes are something like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people. but, media stereotypes are often misled (mislead) and potrayed negatively that causes a lot of problems to arise. they transform assumptions about particular groups of people into realities and perpetuate social prejudice and inequality. however, more often than not, the groups being stereotyped have little to say about how they are represented.
one example of media stereotype that i personally experienced is the potrayal of women as the femme fatale, the supermom and the sex kitten, to name a few. women in movies and television shows are typically shown as fair/white with bodies that are desperately thin and alluring, and made up to the hilt. these images of women have made other people to set their minds on how women shoud look like and create their own meaning of the perfect women.
The Catwoman (Halle Berry)
Personal Reflection : there was no class this week since it was a public holiday.
this is a comic strip entitled "Rumors, lies and innuendo spread far, wide, and fast on the Internet." taken from "Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture" by Stanley Baran, pg 324.
Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words.
Each student must post at least 2 critical reflection on topic given (4%), 1 personal reflection on the media culture class (1%), over a period of 5 days to 7 days.
Critical Reflections :
i admit that every time i needed to do a research for my assignments, the first place i would go to search for information is the internet. with the internet, every information i need is just a click away. it's so quick and easy. however, i never really believe everything that is on the internet and take it as the truth. not all, at least. i say so because, everybody is able to access to the internet. so, anybody from any part of the world can write anything they want, what they believe in, and what they think is true as there is nobody that monitors or decide the reliability of what is written in the internet. take the comic strip, for instance. an adult actually believes what a little boy wrote in the website. just because the name of the website is "The Official National News", the adult believe that the news are authentic. it only goes to show that anything in the internet could be a lie but we are not aware of it. we have used a little too much of the internet everyday, that our brains just absorb and except whatever we read in the internet and take it as the truth without much thought about it.
recently, quite often i did some research about what happened in Gaza. however, there were just too many websites with too many different stories from different point of view. it was so hard for me to know which one is actually telling the truth and which one is the fake. this made me took some extra hours to deliberate and decide which site i wanted to trust. even the most reliable websites such as the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera, tell me different stories. i wanted to believe that the writers/editors of those websites are professionals that only deliver correct and reliable news. but with so many different opinions, one (or more) might not be telling the truth.
Personal Reflection : this week, the class was almost uncontrollable. some students, i thought, were a little rude. they talked non-stop from the start to the end of the class. even after they have been warned. thank god i managed to concentrate on the class. from the lecture, i learned that people rely too much on media. when the logic system is not working especially, this is when people start to believe everything that the media has grafted towards them. however, issues like religion, race, class, and public affiliations are more powerful than media in shaping the behaviour of citizens. therefore, not everyone will listen to or will be affected by what the advertisements tell them. even so, the effects of media will forever stay.
Discuss how this new phenomenon is affecting your life and the lives around you.
Each student must post at least 2 critical reflection on topic given (4%), 1 personal reflection on the media culture class (1%), over a period of 5 days to 7 days.
Critical Reflection on Social Media
social media has a definition that vary from one person to another based on what they use it for. in the video, it says that social media means new opportunities to create and communicate with people that care. one example of social media is social networking online sites. Facebook, Myspace and Friendster are some of the most popular social networking tools commonly used by people of all ages. with these websites, people can create their own personal profile, communicate with their friends and also make new friends. not only that, the people can also keep track on the current events that are happening around them and also the ones that are yet to come. i must admit that i, myself have indulge and still am indulging myself in this social networking thing. i have been a part of it since the first time i ever know how to use the internet. everyday, when i surf net, i am eager to know my friends's updates, what they have been up to, their new pictures and so on. to me, social networking or social media definitely revolves around information, communication and entertainment.
weblog, another form of social media, is said to be the 'It' thing now. as described by wikipedia.org, a weblog or a blog is a website maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other materials such as graphics or videos. since a blog is the owner's own website, he/she is allowed to post just about anything to their own taste and liking. some people use blog to post about their lives (online diary). some, use blog to sell things like clothes, shoes and bags (online shopping). while others, use blog to express their thoughts and opinions on things such as politics. basically, blog is used in so many ways that sometimes we can't possibly think of. blogging sites such as blogspot, wordpress and livejournal, provide space for people to give their head a little peace of mind.
Personal Reflection on The Media Culture Class this class has made me think and realize about things that i never thought i would think of if it wasn't because of the lecturers showing me what is suppose to be obvious. i never thought that media can manipulate us people up to that level. i mean, i always knew that there is something fishy behind these media stuff. but i never thought i was being used all this while. geniuses is what i call the people who create these things. i would like to know more about the 'behind-the-scene' of media. it intrigued me the first time. i hope it intrigue me more in the future.
my name is Nik Aina Hanini bt Nik Zainal. Aina for short. i am a student of Multimedia University Cyberjaya and i am taking foundation in creative multimedia. my student ID is 1081102465. this is the blog i use for my Media Culture class. every discussions and reflections will be submitted and posted in this blog.
